


Gold Star Kisses

by transaizen



Category: One Piece
Genre: Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, could be seen as ship or platonic for all of them, luffy is a charmer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:53:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28905168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transaizen/pseuds/transaizen
Summary: Luffy has a particular way of congratulating his crew for a job well done, something learned from Makino that no one ever told him normal adults didn't really do - kisses!-An exploration of the crew with a slightly more affectionate Luffy.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy/Everyone
Comments: 14
Kudos: 130





	1. Romance Dawn

**Author's Note:**

> This is just an excuse to write a lot of fluff,,, AND I haven't gone back and taken notes on everything as of yet, so some phrasing and events may be slightly different from canon.

The first time it happens goes like this, as he’s contemplating that  _ this  _ is his life now.

He’s floating along in a far too small boat alongside a Captain with a will of iron so unbelievably strong that just hearing him say that he would become the Pirate King was enough to make him believe it, makes his insides shiver with excitement at the simple idea of standing beside him at the top of the world.

If he’d heard even a week ago that he’d be sailing the seas with a pirate -  _ as _ a pirate - he’d have laughed until he was sick. But having his dream approved of with such certainty it almost seemed guaranteed was… It was a heady feeling. He felt powerful when Luffy looked at him. It felt  _ good. _

_ “If you can’t achieve something so simple as that, you’re not fit to be on my crew!” _

Zoro can’t help but grin as he watches Luffy eagerly scan around to find the next island for them to land on, the memory still sharp and clear and exciting.

Hearing he was the very first member to join the crew had been off putting at first for a multitude of reasons, foremost because that means he’s the First Mate, doesn’t it? And he’s not sure if he’s ready to shoulder the responsibility of maintaining a crew under his Captain when he’d only just been wandering alone, ready to fight and die alone too. Sure, he’d had Johnny and Yosaku, but they were simply allies not… Not whatever Luffy is now.

The second reason he’d been so shocked was that Luffy’s personality was so absorbing, alluring in its simplicity, that he simply hadn’t been able to believe that he was chosen as the first person to join him. It was special, too special for Zoro.

But he’s here now, on the tiny boat in a sea neither of them know how to navigate, chasing after dreams so large it will take them years to accomplish it, and Zoro finds that he doesn’t mind at all.

Then, Luffy makes a noise of shock that puts Zoro on edge, wondering if they’re about to run into another Sea King, but Luffy simply spins around and hops over to Zoro’s spot.

“I completely forgot!” And then he leans in and kisses Zoro simply on the cheek, leaning back and laughing sheepishly. “Sorry about that! I won’t forget next time!”

Zoro wonders if there’s been a serious miscommunication somewhere, or if he’d somehow forgotten a conversation they’d had where they’d agreed to - to be a  _ thing… _ Or is this what being a First Mate means to pirates? He hadn’t known about that. Luffy looks completely innocent, immediately turning back to the ocean water lapping at their boat so Zoro thinks he’s definitely missing something.

“What was that for?” he asks bluntly, without any accusation to his voice.

Luffy looks up from something in the water distracting him - a shiny fish, probably. He’d better not fall in again. “Hm?”

“The, uh, the kiss. What was it for?”

Luffy puts his hands on his hips and looks distinctly unimpressed. “Wow, so Zoro doesn’t know about it huh? Makino used to do that all the time for me!”

Zoro raises a brow. “Makino?”

“Sure! She’s super nice and friendly!” Oh, so it  _ is _ like that? “She gave me food and milk whenever I came into the village, and took care of me before Dadan did!” Aha. Zoro’s getting the picture, finally. “And whenever I did something good and did a really good job, she’d give me a kiss as a thank you! She gave them to Shanks too, but usually on his mouth.”

So it’s just a matter of upbringing. That simplifies things.

"Then it's thanks for joining your crew?"

Luffy laughs. "No, it's for helping me fight Morgan. Without Zoro, it would have been a lot tougher! You really helped me out, and you didn't even say you agreed to be my nakama yet. So… Thank you!"

It was Luffy who had saved him, really, from an unfair execution he had trapped himself into because he had believed in the marines perhaps a bit too much. He's rubber, sure, but he'd still stepped in front of a firing squad for him. Zoro's racking up quite a debt and they've barely even started.

Zoro had declared that if Luffy ever got in his way, he'd cut him down on his path to the top, but… He frowns at himself. If he didn't watch out, he'd be the one dragging Luffy down instead.

Luffy looks a little unsure then, smile dipping slightly at his silence. “Was that wrong? Sorry if I made Zoro unhappy, I was just trying to show you I appr - apresh - like you!”

“Appreciate. And no, I wasn’t unhappy, it’s just…”

Zoro wonders then about explaining to Luffy what kisses mean, why mothers can kiss children without being questioned and why adults typically kiss other adults, but he supposes it doesn’t matter. After all, they’re pirates. If this is what his Captain wants, it doesn’t take any skin off his back.

“Nevermind. It’s all fine. Do whatever you want.” Luffy lights up. He smothers a smile and relaxes back into the boat. “I’m taking a nap.”


	2. Orange Town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very very vague mentions of homophobia existing in the one piece world in this chapter

The second time (though she doesn’t know it’s the second time) goes like this.

Nami doesn’t know  _ what _ is up with these weirdos. These pirates who came to rescue the day from Buggy. All she knows is this: they’re suicidal.

First the Captain of their (apparently only two-man) crew gave a telepathic order to shoot the cannon at Buggy, which she still couldn’t figure out. His arms had been tied at that point, hadn’t they? So it’s not like they could have used some sort of sign language or code. And that aside, his green-haired friend had then picked up and hauled the giant metal cage halfway through town even when his organs were at risk of popping out.

Though…

_ “It means being prepared to risk your own life!” the little caged pirate proclaims, grinning widely at her with determination burning in his eyes. _

… she’d ended up risking her own life to save him too, a  _ pirate _ of all things. In her mind she could rationalize it by needing the treasure Buggy had and therefore needing someone strong enough to take him on, but she knows that killing him and waiting for the crew to pass out drunk would have been simpler and safer by far.

She'd figured they'd run once they realized how outclassed they were. But  _ then _ Luffy had kept on fighting them, blowing back a direct cannonball hit, getting more upset over his hat being damaged than being physically hurt.

And that damn swordsman! Cutting himself deeper when him surviving until then was already a miracle in itself!

She’s going to get grey hairs over this stress, honestly.

Nami sighs and ignores the ache in her head as she searches around to find a first aid kit. The green-haired guy is napping on the boat as Luffy happily waves them off from Orange Town, apparently utterly unfazed by how the townspeople had chased them out.

She kicks the sleeping man in the side. “Pull up your shirt and let me stitch your cut closed at least.”

He opens an eye and then shuts it. “No thanks.”

Suicidal. He must be. What the heck is this guy’s name again? Zolo? Whatever it is, he’s really getting on her nerves by refusing the first aid treatment that she’s so kindly offering. Did he not realize he was still bleeding out? He’d hurt himself more than Buggy’s swordsman did!

“Will you  _ just…!” _

“Zoro, let Nami help,” Luffy finally interrupts, looking away from Orange Town vanishing into the distance. “It would probably be bad for you to bleed out too much more. I want you to be able to come to the Grand Line with me after all!”

Ah right, his name is Zoro. To his credit, he listens to his Captain, shifting around to pull his clothing aside to let her get at the seeping cuts. She’d have bet actual berries on Zoro being the more level-headed one just based on appearances, but now she knows they’re equally empty headed. Just her luck.

She stitches him up efficiently, not bothering to take any care to be gentle.

“Witch,” he hisses, twitching as she finishes closing the gashes and wrapping it up with gauze.

Luffy bounds over and immediately bows over his friend, kissing him firmly on the cheek. "You did a really good job, Zoro!"

Nami blinks… Ah. Wait. Huh? What did she just see?

Zoro snorts. “For being a good boy and letting her mutilate me?”

Luffy laughs merrily. “Zoro’s funny! That too I guess. But I meant the rescue, and fighting that weird cycling guy, and surviving that huge cannonball that destroyed the mayor’s house. Zoro did a lot of good things today! I probably would be dead if you weren’t there!”

Shouldn’t he sound a  _ little _ more concerned?

Zoro grins lazily at him and gives him a flippant thumbs up. "No worries, Captain."

Alright so an addendum to that earlier thought: they’re gay and suicidal.

She waits until Luffy’s jumped across to the other side of the boat to stare at a school of fish passing by to talk. “So, you two are together, right? You know in the bigger towns, you’d be accepted. You don’t have to pretend to be pirates or anything to be together.”

Nami’s internally shocked at how eagerly she wants them to just be misguided people trying to find freedom rather than  _ real _ pirates. That they aren’t like Buggy. Like Arlong. She knows that Luffy can’t really be like them at heart, not after feeding that dog and leaving the money for the town, he must just be a little misguided! She can’t help smiling in relief.

He grins slowly at her. “We’re not together like that. It’s just his way of saying ‘good job’. Don’t stress too much about it, you’re sure to get a few yourself sooner or later.”

Her face scrunches up, good mood evaporating. “I’m not part of your crew.”

The swordsman shrugs easily, mouth twitching when his stomach pulls. “I said that too, at first.”

“Well unlike you, I mean it,” she says poisonously, wishing nothing more than to smack that arrogant smile off his face.

"Sure," he says simply, not believing her at all.

"Pirates disgust me!" Why is she still arguing with him?!

He laughs loudly at that. "I wonder if all of his crew is going to be like us. Hating pirates one day and becoming pirates the next. He's a strange guy like that."

Her complaints about his use of “us” go unheard as the swordsman suddenly relaxes and starts snoring. She's  _ not _ going to be a pirate. She's really not. She might hang around them and steal all the treasure they pick up along the way because they're definitely strong, but she’d rather chew her arm off than accept becoming a pirate.

… and who ever heard of pirates giving smooches to their crew members for a job well done, anyways?

Dusting herself off, she rises up and makes a mental note to find more first aid supplies when they get to a new town. Somehow she just knows they’ll end up needing it.

She sighs and looks over to Luffy who’s taken his hat off and is looking at it with a strained expression.

“What’s wrong?”

Luffy shows her the hat, a hole broken right through it. That’s right, she’d almost forgotten it had been damaged. He looks so upset, brows pulled together and free hand gripped so tightly his knuckles are white. Ah, to hell with it. She’d really be a witch if she didn’t do something, so she holds her hand out for it, already digging out the needle and thread from the kit again.

It’s a fairly easy fix, and she gets the feeling this hat has been through a lot already.

She plops it back on his head when she’s done, laughing at how wide his smile can stretch with that rubber body of his. “Ahhh, thank you Nami!”

And before she can dodge he leans over and pecks her on the cheek. She recoils, wiping her cheek and glaring at the swordsman who’s apparently woken up and started chuckling at them.

“Look, Zoro!”

Zoro nods at him and his repaired hat, then gives Nami a smug grin. “Well, that’s two for me, one for you.”

Nami can  _ feel _ the flames on the side of her face. Furious and embarrassed, she throws the first aid kit at Zoro’s head. He doesn’t bother to dodge and she feels a little better when he grimaces and rubs his forehead. “It isn’t a damn contest! And you,” she shouts at Luffy, “I’m not even on your crew, so watch it!”

“Hmm… But you are, though.”

“No, I am not!”

“Yeah, you are.”

“No -”

“Yes -”


End file.
